Assam: Police arrested another person from Barpeta district for alleged terror links. (Representational)
In a major crackdown by Assam police, three persons with suspected links to Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) have been arrested in the past two days. The arrested include Imams of mosques in Assam's Goalpara district.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abdus Subhan, Imam of Tinkunia Shantipur Mosque under Mornoi police station and Jalaluddin Sheikh, Imam of Tilapara Natun Mosque under Matia police station in Goalpara, police sources told NDTV.
The arrested were grilled by the police for several hours, V.V. Rakesh Reddy, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Goalpara district said.
"We have gotten input in July this year from arrested Abbas Ali who is also linked with Jihadi elements. During the interrogation, we found that they were directly connected with Barpeta and Morigaon modules of AQIS/ABT in Assam," Mr Reddy said.
"During the house searches of the accused persons, a number of incriminating material related to the Al-Qaeda, Jihadi elements, posters, books among other documents were seized along with the mobile phones, SIM cards and ID cards," he added.
Police also arrested another person from Barpeta district for alleged links with Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based Jihadi group known as a wing of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.
"They are operating in the rural belt of Assam and influencing the youths through many ways. We have started a crackdown against the fundamental elements working against our nation," a police official said.
Those arrested recently have provided logistic help to five absconding terrorists of ABT who had entered India from Bangladesh, a police source said.
"The Bangladeshi nationals are absconding and the arrested terrorists had given shelter to the Bangladeshi terrorists in Goalpara. The arrested persons had organized one Dharma Sabha in December 2019 at Sundarpur Tilapara Madrassa under the Matia police station where many Bangladeshi nationals with linkages to AQIS were invited as guest speakers," SP V.V. Rakesh Reddy informed.